Looking Forward to Another World

After reaching an agreement with Leffy about traveling to Urvashi, both sides naturally shifted into casual conversation.

It was called casual conversation, but in reality, each side had its own objective.

Leffy wanted to use seemingly harmless small talk to figure out where Riezel and the others had come from.

Riezel, meanwhile, wanted to use someone from a major noble family like Leffy to gather information about the Kazdel Mountains casually.

In the end, neither side achieved its goal.

Riezel naturally spoke without leaving any openings.

Even though he did not particularly care if his origins were exposed, he had no desire to invite unnecessary trouble.

If Leffy learned that he came from Jinas in the central region of the Akasha Continent, that he was the Sword Saint of one of the four great countries, and that everyone traveling with him was either a Sword Saint or someone comparable to one, she would likely begin wondering whether he had come to challenge Theresis’s dominance.

As a result, Riezel chose to keep nearly everything about his group hidden, revealing only a few insignificant details.

For example, they were neither from Lukais nor from any nation within the alliance of small nations, and they had no conflict of interest with Theresis, so Leffy could rest easy.

As for Leffy, she also failed to provide the information Riezel wanted.

It was not because she refused to tell him, but because she genuinely did not know.

Kazdel Mountains?

Leffy had never heard of such a mountain range existing within Theresis.

Rather, the northern queendom of Theresis had very few mountain ranges to begin with. Unlike the central region of the continent, where mountains and plains dominated the landscape and mountain ranges were everywhere, Theresis’s terrain was largely flat.

Therefore, when Riezel asked about it, Leffy honestly told him that no mountain range called the Kazdel Mountains existed within Theresis. Not only was there no such place in Theresis, but none of the neighboring small kingdoms had ever heard of it either.

However, after Riezel mentioned that the Kazdel Mountains might be at the northernmost edge of Theresis, Leffy recalled something relevant.

”That place is covered by an enormous blizzard all year round. The queendom has designated it as a forbidden zone where life cannot survive. Almost nobody goes in, and those who do never come back.”

Leffy also told Riezel that, in the past, one of Theresis’s Sword Saints had ventured deep into that endless blizzard.

In the end, that Sword Saint never returned.

After losing one of its Sword Saints, Theresis officially declared the area a forbidden zone where life could not survive. It served as a warning to all its citizens to stay away, with anyone who entered doing so entirely at their own risk.

Because of that incident, the people of Theresis had regarded the forbidden zone as taboo for hundreds of years. It was not as extreme as the neutral city of Sinielle, where even discussing forbidden topics could get someone arrested by City Hall, but whenever people heard anything about that place, they treated it like a deadly plague and avoided it at all costs.

Of course, countless rumors about the forbidden zone still circulated in private.

Some claimed that an extremely dangerous ancient ruin lay hidden there, containing an enormous secret. According to them, the massive blizzard had been created by some kind of super magic technology from the ancient magic civilization, serving as a natural barrier that protected the area.

Others claimed that a terrifying monster left behind by the ancient magic civilization had been sleeping there ever since, and that everyone who entered was killed by that monster.

Still others insisted that various signs suggested the ancient magic civilization had been destroyed by some great catastrophe, and that the origin of that catastrophe lay within the heart of the endless blizzard.

The accumulation of those rumors made the forbidden zone even more feared. As time passed, fewer and fewer people were willing to speak of it, believing it to be a land of certain death that absolutely must never be entered.

Over the past hundred years, let alone anyone entering the forbidden zone where the great blizzard raged, not even a single person had dared approach it.

”Forget whatever might be hiding inside. That blizzard alone is enough to kill any living thing that tries to enter.”

Ultimately, that was how Leffy described it.

”Without the strength of a Sword Saint or the protection of an exceptionally powerful mystical artifact, entering the forbidden zone is no different from committing suicide.”

”Nowadays, even the royal family has given up on the idea of exploring it, even if there really is an ancient ruin or some great secret hidden inside.”

”If you’re heading north, make sure you stay far away from that place.”

”Besides, it’s already at the northernmost edge of the continent. Some people even believe it’s the end of the world. Reaching it isn’t easy to begin with.”

Leffy earnestly warned them, apparently realizing that Riezel intended to visit the forbidden zone.

’It’s really that dangerous?’

After hearing Leffy’s explanation, Riezel fell into thought. Even Ivy and Leo exchanged glances, clearly having never expected the place to be so dangerous.

After leaving the mayor’s residence, Riezel turned to the two of them.

”Didn’t your high priest tell you how to get through that blizzard?”

Riezel’s question was met with another exchange of confused looks.

”No, the high priest didn’t...” Ivy rubbed her temples in frustration. ”She only told us that once we left the Hidden Land, it’d be extremely hard to get back, and that was done to protect humanity’s last remaining survivors.”

Since the Hidden Land was humanity’s final refuge from the ancient magic civilization, the more isolated it was, the better. The harder it was to find, reach, and enter, the safer humanity’s last survivors would be.

With such a terrifying blizzard protecting it, if nothing else, monsters would have an incredibly difficult time pursuing people there in large numbers.

Everything they had learned so far indicated that monsters had been responsible for destroying the ancient magic civilization. If that was true, then it made perfect sense that humanity had created a way to prevent monsters from following the refugees into the Hidden Land.

Because of that, the overwhelming blizzard really might have been created using some form of super magic technology from the ancient magic civilization.

Hadn’t Belmont mentioned it before?

During the era of the ancient magic civilization, magic beyond the Strategic Class might very well have existed.

If that was the case, who was to say that the massive blizzard wasn’t the result of a magic spell that surpassed the Strategic Class?

Thinking that far ahead, Riezel narrowed his eyes before asking another question.

”Then over all these years, has anyone from the outside world ever made it into the Hidden Land?”

Ivy and Leo immediately hesitated.

”I think... maybe?”

Leo sounded thoroughly uncertain.

”How should I know?”

Ivy rolled her eyes.

”Eleven thousand years is a crazy long time, and the Hidden Land has changed a ton since then. It stopped being just a refuge a long time ago. Who knows what’s happened there over all those years?”

”Maybe somebody really did make it to the Hidden Land at some point in history. There’ve always been rumors in the Hidden Land that certain mysterious people might’ve come from the outside world, but nobody really knows if that’s true or if it’s all just rumors.”

”Either way, I’ve never seen any historical records in the Sanctuary that mention people from the outside world. I’ve definitely never seen any record saying someone came from the outside world.”

”On the other hand, plenty of people have left the Hidden Land. Throughout history, a lot of people dreamed of seeing the outside world and decided to leave. Otherwise, the continent never would’ve grown such a huge population.”

”As for people getting into the Hidden Land from the outside world... at least I’ve never heard of any.”

In other words, it was one of those mysteries that no one could verify.

”...I’m honestly surprised your high priest still had the guts to send you here with all that going on.”

Even Riezel was speechless.

Wasn’t the high priest worried that Ivy and Leo might never find their way back?

Besides, if entering the Hidden Land was truly so difficult, then how did the people of the Sanctuary know what the present-day Akasha Continent looked like?

And how did they know that Lizbeth, a member of the ancient magic civilization’s royal family, had appeared on the continent?

This time, however, Ivy and Leo gave him a clear answer.

”The Sanctuary’s got an insanely powerful mystical artifact. Every so often, it shows written information from all across the continent, letting the Sanctuary keep up with pretty much everything that’s going on out in the world.”

That was Ivy’s explanation.

That mystical artifact had originally been created so that the people of the Hidden Land could determine whether the disasters in the outside world had finally passed and whether humanity had escaped the danger that had once destroyed the ancient magic civilization.

Its creator was apparently the ancient magic civilization’s last high priest. In terms of strength, ability, status, and influence, that high priest had been second only to the queen of the Reinnail Clan, making her the civilization’s second most important figure.

According to legend, that high priest had personally escorted humanity’s last survivors into the Hidden Land before returning to the continent, where she stood alongside the queen to confront the coming catastrophe.

In other words, she had most likely shared the same fate as the queen—perishing during the ancient magic civilization’s final days and now resting within the burial chamber of some ancient ruin.

The overwhelming blizzard surrounding the forbidden zone might very well have been her handiwork as well.

If that were true, then the ancient high priest had been a super magician like Riezel, someone who had mastered magic beyond the Strategic Class.

In that case...

”Even though getting back to the Hidden Land is really tough, the high priest told us that if the two of us handled this mission, we’d definitely make it back safe and sound.”

That was what Leo said.

As for why he was so certain, Riezel already knew the answer.

During the half month after Ivy and Leo regained their freedom, Riezel had asked them countless questions about the Hidden Land. In particular, he had frequently inquired about the Sanctuary’s high priest whenever the opportunity arose, gathering as much information about her as possible.

As a result, he learned that not only was the high priest currently the strongest person in the Hidden Land, but she was also an Interference System Magician with Imaginary compatibility.

Her specialty was Imaginary Interference Precognition Magic, making her a seer capable of glimpsing the future.

After learning that a member of the royal family had survived, the high priest cast a precognition spell and witnessed fragments of the future.

From those visions, she learned that Ivy and Leo had to be the ones to carry out the mission.

As long as those two were sent, the mission would succeed, the surviving royal family member would be safely returned to the Hidden Land, and the two of them would also make it back alive.

For that reason, the Hidden Land had entrusted such an important mission to only those two youngsters.

Otherwise, the Sanctuary would certainly have dispatched high-ranking priests to carry out the mission, or perhaps even an elite military force to escort the surviving royal family member back to the Hidden Land as safely as possible.

Knowing that, what else could Riezel say?

He had no idea just how powerful that high priest really was, but she was a seer who had foreseen that Ivy and Leo would successfully bring back the surviving member of the royal family.

For the time being, he decided to believe her.

At the very least, Ivy and Leo had indeed safely escorted Lizbeth to Theresis, and the group was currently traveling toward the Hidden Land.

The only thing Riezel wondered was whether the high priest had foreseen that Ivy and Leo would end up bringing him along to the Hidden Land as well.

The thought genuinely piqued his curiosity.

*Guruu~*

Suddenly, an adorable little sound came from beside Riezel.

*Swish!*

Everyone immediately turned toward the source of the sound.

”Mm...”

Lizbeth covered her stomach, her pretty face turning bright red as she looked so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear into the ground.

”Your Highness, are you hungry?”

Leo bluntly asked the obvious question.

”Did anyone ask you?” Ivy smacked Leo on the back of the head, then turned to Lizbeth with concern, ignoring his pained cry. ”I’ll go find a place where we can rest.”

”Master.”

Lilith turned toward Riezel, her meaning obvious as she silently asked whether he wanted her to search instead.

”Hm?”

Meanwhile, Euryale curiously walked over to Lizbeth, staring at her stomach. She even reached out as though she wanted to touch it, apparently wondering why it had made a sound.

Being a vampire certainly had its advantages, as she never needed to eat, so she had no idea what hunger even felt like.

Lizbeth could only dodge Euryale’s hand with her face flushed crimson before looking up at Riezel with such embarrassment that she seemed on the verge of tears.

”Let’s go find an inn or a restaurant so we can kick back for a bit...” Riezel chuckled as he gently rubbed Lizbeth’s head. ”Once the mayor’s done getting the supplies we need ready, we’ll head to Urvashi.”

As for transportation, he had already decided on the same method he had always used.

He would simply use a summoned creature as their mount.

Among the countless monsters from YGGDRASIL, there were naturally some capable of sprinting across snowy terrain and raging blizzards.

He could then use magic to create a carriage-like compartment, allowing everyone to travel all the way to Urvashi in comfort.

As for Theresis’s freezing climate, it was hardly a problem in the face of Riezel’s magic. If necessary, he could simply create floating fireballs inside the carriage to keep everyone warm throughout the journey.

Once Leffy provided them with a detailed map of Theresis and the route ahead, Riezel had no intention of remaining in Mitte any longer.

After all, the map Yuri had prepared could never be as detailed as one provided by a noble of Theresis.

Having made up his mind, Riezel led the group through the streets in search of an inn or a restaurant.

At that moment, however, he had no idea that Leffy was about to bring someone to meet him, someone very important.

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]

[Support and get early access to upcoming Chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]